Paddling in foliage season can be pure magic

A quiet river in foliage season can be a two-way street. You can enjoy the foliage in both directions.

Continuum: Some trees are in full display, others are just starting . . . Foliage season is a continuum best seen from a river with a paddle in your hands.

Posted
Friday, September 21, 2012 8:42 am

Friday September 21, 2012

Most people equate paddle sports with summer, but fall is the best time of the year for paddling. There is nothing more beautiful than a river when the leaves are all aflame on its banks and the surrounding hillsides. It's magic, pure magic.

If you own your own canoe, kayak, or SUP, you can enjoy the fall spectacle any time, anywhere you want. Just don't put your boat away before ice forms and find time to go out paddling. It's that simple.

But this story really isn't aimed at the people who canoe and kayak all the time. It's for people who might not (yet) know how wonderful it is to get on the water in the fall.

If you don't own your own boat, and even if you've never paddled before, there are lots and lots and lots of options for fall paddling. See the list below and get out and do it.

Before we start talking about specific places to paddle, however, I need to refute one persistent myth about foliage season, namely that there's some magical "peak" time for viewing fall foliage and that, if you somehow missed that peak, you've missed the whole thing. It just isn't so.

Foliage season is a continuum that depends on a lot of different factors, and you can find great foliage in one spot, and nothing a quarter-mile away. Drought can be a real killer of foliage colors, but that's no problem with trees along a river. At some point between now and the end of October, every river in southern Quebec and New England will have a tremendous foliage display along its banks. You just have to be there to see it. Life isn't a spectator sport. Get out and enjoy!

Flowing foliage favorites

(Most I've done; some I want to do)

The contacts given all rent kayaks and provide shuttle service, if needed.

This guided tour is ideal for someone who has never been in a kayak before. They have excellent equipment, and the Blackwater's gentle currents open to some pristine ponds with almost-undeveloped shorelines. The entire river is overhung with maple trees, which promise a spectacular foliage season.

North Star does rentals, shuttles and overnight trips on a gorgeous, flowing section of the Connecticut that's too shallow for motorboat traffic. They'll be open at least through Columbus Day, probably later.

These companies rent top-flight equipment and offer shuttle service through, at least, Col umbus Day in what is one of the classic foliage-viewing areas of New Hampshire and Maine.

A note of caution

Though the days are often very warm at this time of year, nights often get downright cool. Those cold nights help to start water temperatures falling, not to recover until next summer.

If you are playing around water at this time of year, wear your personal flotation device all the time you are on the water. It'll help you stay afloat if you end up in the chilly water. It also pays to carry a small dry bag with a towel and a change of clothes.

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